CornBurrito
Member
I admittedly haven't seen much of Superman, but aren't they basically right?
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Did DC ever explain why Kryptonians look so human like?
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I admittedly haven't seen much of Superman, but aren't they basically right?
TheKaeptain
Banned
Well yeah.
evil solrac v3.0
Member
NO! YOU ARE HAMPERING!
I think if they would not have done that terrible countdown to Final Crisis, it would have been far better. or if it would have included SUperman Beyond as part seven (thus making it 8 part series) it would have gone over better.
edit: the Science council was basically dictatorial. they fully conquered Krypton in every way. they controlled the natural environment, the society (with their caste based system) the Military, etc.
They are responsible for The Eternals aka New Gods done right.
TheKaeptain
Banned
You crazy bro
I could say the sky was blue and you would say the same thing. Fact pound for pound Externals>>>>>>>>>>New Gods.
radios shipping overview
Member
Because he's Superman, not Super Tentacle Alien.
Parallax
best seen in the classic "Shadow of the Beast"
he could be both. he could be a creature like the martian manhunter who can change shape along with his other powers.
evil solrac v3.0
Member
MisterHero
Super Member
Jor-El knew about the civiliations throughout the universe, but he chose Earth because they most resembled Kryptonians. Of course, they're not genetically compatible in most versions.
Ironically, General Zod believed Jor-El. He only got sent into the Phantom Zone because he tried to overthrow the council. So did Non, who was one of Krypton's smartest scientists and Jor-El's friend before Zod lobotomized him.
After the 80s Crisis reboot, some people on Krypton created a genetic defect that prevented them from leaving the planet. This was DC's solution to make sure that Superman was the only one to survive the destruction.
Is it gone forever? Dunno, but Prime Superman is capable of restoring it.
ALSO, this might be important now:
It was said somewhere during War of the Lanterns/Blackest Night/Brightest Day that DC's Earth might be the oldest planet and true center of the universe. It's possible that all DC universe humanoids come from Earth.
IIRC Nekron revealed that the Guardians manipulated the Earth's age.
Ironically, General Zod believed Jor-El. He only got sent into the Phantom Zone because he tried to overthrow the council. So did Non, who was one of Krypton's smartest scientists and Jor-El's friend before Zod lobotomized him.
The originals didn't need yellow sun and were capable of crazy feats.evil solrac v3.0 said:
As others noted, there are the Daxams. Zor-El, the brother of Jor-El, tried to make Argo City move to another star but eventually ran out of power. There was Brainiac who trapped Kandor in a bottle. The criminals avoided death by getting trapped in the Phantom Zone. A while back, there was New Krypton but Lois Lane's dad blew it up.
After the 80s Crisis reboot, some people on Krypton created a genetic defect that prevented them from leaving the planet. This was DC's solution to make sure that Superman was the only one to survive the destruction.
Is it gone forever? Dunno, but Prime Superman is capable of restoring it.
ALSO, this might be important now:
It was said somewhere during War of the Lanterns/Blackest Night/Brightest Day that DC's Earth might be the oldest planet and true center of the universe. It's possible that all DC universe humanoids come from Earth.
IIRC Nekron revealed that the Guardians manipulated the Earth's age.
He created both, just one is worse than the others.
Hero_of_the_Day
Member
Well that sucks. I guess I won't be catching up on Batman and Robin then. So is it just Bruce and Damian in that series, or is it cancelled?
LAUGHTREY
Modesty becomes a woman
What was that alternate/nightmare scenario where Ma and Pa Kent find the spaceship and there's some hideous monster in there, and the ship reads their minds and erases their memories from the past few seconds as the ship morphs him into a human child instead.
Cause that shit was nuts.
Cause that shit was nuts.
Laughing Banana
Weeping Pickle
A better question would be how everyone would fail to recognize Clark Kent is Superman where the biggest obstacle of realizing that is just a goddamn pair of glasses.
Hero_of_the_Day
Member
I hate that this is even a thing in the comics. Like, I wish Superman having an alter ego wasn't even a thought in anyones mind. You know what I'd do if I could fly around and bullets just bounced off me? Everything that didn't include a mundane 9 to 5 job. I'd be doing Superman shit all fucking day.
Parallax
best seen in the classic "Shadow of the Beast"
Fictional ignorance
There's a whole process involved that includes shifting his voice, changing his posture and body language (Ma Kent had him study acting), and wearing loose-fitting clothes so his figure is hidden (He actually looks kind of fat to people as Clark). The glasses also hide his eyes, which are an unnatural shade of blue.
Another thing to remember is that no one thinks Superman even has a secret identity, so they're not looking for one.
(Not an amazing explanation, but that's the one we got)
Every time Clark attempts to do the "Superman 24/7" thing, he goes crazy. He needs time to be a normal person. Plus, Clark is the more interesting part of the character.
Synth_floyd
Banned
And of course the reason why the TOS and movie Klingons look different is because of some virus.
evil solrac v3.0
Member
don't bother bringing that up because that hasn't been in continuity for 40-50 years.
nobody in the DC earth goes around thinking that Superman is hiding among regular people. you, the reader, are the only one wondering where Superman goes.
when Luthor found out Superman's secret identity, (after COIE in 1985)he dismissed it because he thought that someone like Superman wouldn't hide as a meek man.
nah.
I liked the last continuity better when the Kryptonians were an evil space faring race of conquerors, who suddenly got over that and became more peaceful, and stopped their exploration and conquering ways. It's how Kryptonians had gotten their frightful reputation throughout the universe. They were basically Super-Romulan Klingons with technology, who would move from star system to star system. But if they ran into a yellow sun, lookout.
Like that silver haired hottie, the former Kryptonian soldier who came to earth. And then the assumption was that there were Kryptonian survivors from the New Krypton thing, but scattered.
That whole retconning business to explain *why* Kal El is the 'last remaining son of Krypton' is pointless to me. They should stop battling people in the letter columns(probably why they don't have a letter col), and concentrate on having a masterpiece type story, even if the edges are a little rough.
Like that silver haired hottie, the former Kryptonian soldier who came to earth. And then the assumption was that there were Kryptonian survivors from the New Krypton thing, but scattered.
That whole retconning business to explain *why* Kal El is the 'last remaining son of Krypton' is pointless to me. They should stop battling people in the letter columns(probably why they don't have a letter col), and concentrate on having a masterpiece type story, even if the edges are a little rough.
Yeah who ever let that one slip through should be slapped.
entremet
Member
Classic deux es machina.
Red Son is the Superman movie we deserve, but not the one we need right now.
ThoseDeafMutes
Member
Why do kryptonians have powers? Is it just intrinsic, was it engineered into them, or what?
I've never read it, but I dislike the idea of anyone besides bruce being batman and this is partially why.
Batman has a variety of valid interpretations of the character and I'm not gonna say that this one is invalid, but one of the biggest draws to Batman for me is the idea that he doesn't actually want to be a superhero but feels compelled to do it as a result of his parents death. Being Batman shouldn't be a completely 100% angst filled experience but it sure as shit shouldn't be fun imo.
entremet
Member
Our Sun gives them powers.
I remember reading the novelization of the Doomsday arc and its explained it. Superman being a rechargeable solar battery or sorts.
Hrm, their home planet's sun was a red star. Their cells process yellow sunlight and store it as bioenergy. I don't remember a story of how they discovered their powers. Depending on who's writing, they knew, or they didn't knew.
We'd have to assume it was evolved. It's possible they didn't even originate on Krypton, and have forgotten their true origins. Or maybe the star transitioned during their evolution?
We'd have to assume it was evolved. It's possible they didn't even originate on Krypton, and have forgotten their true origins. Or maybe the star transitioned during their evolution?
Black-Wind
Member
Because young white males need someone to look up to.
Someone they can relate to.
Someone they can relate to.
I love it.
ThoseDeafMutes
Member
evil solrac v3.0
Member
where did you read that Bruce is a reluctant hero? he is completely committed to it and doesn't see himself stopping unless he dies. the mission is very important to him even if he has come to terms with his parents' death.
when Krypton was out conquering worlds (with top of the line military gear) they found out that yellow sunlight gave them powers. that led them to acquire more planets. after COIE I seem to remember that anything but red sun radiation could charge them up.
TheKaeptain
Banned
Dick didn't want to be Batman though. He wouldn't even put the suit on it wasn't until Gotham needed Batman he felt he had to do it.
They were an advanced species . At one point they were conquering the universe in wars until they retreated to their planet and stayed there.
Think of all the things us humans are doing now , we can correct eye sight with lasers , we can now study genomes and find out what causes genetic defects. Flash forward 10s of thousands of years and if we haven't died off we can most likely create super verisons of what we are now.
Now imagine we were to go to a planet with a weaker gravitational field and a place with a young star putting out tons of energy that our bodies are able to store and convert into usable power .
That is kinda the start of the idea of superman . They actually have a whole book devoted to this answer and pose different answers.
BlackGoku03
Member
The entire point of sending Kal El to earth was because we look like Kryptonians.
Dick fought it really hard, too. During "Battle for the Cowl," pretty much everyone knew Dick was the only person who could take Bruce's place, but he just didn't want it.
Worked out in the end, of course. I love Nightwing, but I really miss Dick as the Bat.
jon_irenicus
Member
Sci-Fi author Larry Niven gave a rather thorough hypothesis of this event in his essay Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex. Just an excerpt:
I don't think comics demand explanation, but it is great when a good one is given.
This is the guy who went to great pains to make sure every crazy weird 70s batman story have a place in continuity that can be explained.
It's good that he just didn't tell us to shut the fuck up and accept that comics are comics. Answering questions makes the reading experience more fleshed out and interesting. Not reading because you can't answer who pumps the batmobile tires is the extreme you want to avoid, but asking the question opens the door to some cool explanation that makes this ficticional universe a little bit richer.
Laughing Banana
Weeping Pickle
There's a whole process involved that includes shifting his voice, changing his posture and body language (Ma Kent had him study acting), and wearing loose-fitting clothes so his figure is hidden (He actually looks kind of fat to people as Clark). The glasses also hide his eyes, which are an unnatural shade of blue.
Another thing to remember is that no one thinks Superman even has a secret identity, so they're not looking for one.
(Not an amazing explanation, but that's the one we got)
What baffles me is Louis Lane, the woman who is in love with him and even conceived a child with him (like in Superman Returns), still fails to recognize Clark Kent = Superman. One of them is her colleagues who she meets every day and the other is a man intimate enough for her to have a child with.
That scene where Clark dropped his glasses and stared at her longingly after they bumped to each other made me facepalmed like crazy, hahaha.
Also, is Louis in love with Superman or with Clark Kent? Or does she love Clark because he is Superman? If Clark is not Superman, will they still be together?
greycolumbus
The success of others absolutely infuriates me.
Everything is part of the one-story. There are no exceptions.
It goes like this: Lois starts out having a crush on Superman, gets over it, falls in love with Clark, they get engaged, before they get married Clark reveals he is Superman. Lois would love him and be with him even if he wasn't Superman, since she loves who Clark is as a person beyond being a superhero.
(That said, they're not together following the new 52 reboot. Lois is with some random, and Superman is fuck buddies with Wonder Woman. Though, DC has all but said they're going to get back together eventually, so eh.)
Black_Stride
do not tempt fate do not contrain Wonder Woman's thighs do not do not
The Window is gone.....well cept for one issue....but otherwise PowerGirl has become one of the most conservatively dressed Super Heroines.
That's different. Dick loves being a superhero. He loves the job itself. Being Batman in particular was just something he was reluctant to do.
Not recluctant hero, but not someone who wants to be a hero. He's fully dedicated to the job because it's the only way to deal with his parents dying. Ideally, he'd want for his parents to never have died and live a normal life. He's only batman because he has to be, not because he wants to be. It's a compulsion, not a choice, and it has a detrimental effect on his overall life.
I searched everywhere to find this one quote that I felt captures the difference between Bruce and Dick perfectly, but I can't. Instead, I'll just have to recite it as best I can from memory.
"Bruce would give anything to have his parents back. But as much I loved my parents, I wouldn't give anything in exchange for growing up with Bruce."
Bruce is a much more interesting character to me because I see him as psychologically broken while Dick is essentially a normal, functional, likable guy who has all sorts of training and is a superhero. There is nothing wrong with that kind of character, but that's not Batman to me.
Hero_of_the_Day
Member
He's an alien, for Christ sake. His Kyrptonian biological makeup is enhanced by Earth's yellow sun. If Lois gets a tan, the kid could kick right through her stomach. Only someone like Wonder Woman has a strong enough uterus to carry his kid. The only way Superman could bang regular chicks is if he does it with a kryptonite condom, but that would kill him.
The way I would put it, is that in batman's perfect world, he wouldn't exist.
TheKaeptain
Banned
The Window is gone.....well cept for one issue....but otherwise PowerGirl has become one of the most conservatively dressed Super Heroines.
I'm all for Superheroines dressing conservatively, but...I miss Peej's window.
Kryptonians don't normally get powers till puberty. Also, he could always fuck under a special red sun lamp.
LAUGHTREY
Modesty becomes a woman
Superman isn't who he is unless he's at home on his farm, otherwise he's putting up an act.
I don't know how they justify them getting together ever, since he's never not "in character".
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